Tumble dryer or shoe dryer for super quick substrate drying

[Heidicat]

Hi, I appologize if I've posted this in the wrong thread or if this have been a topic before (I'm new here and to the hobby).
However; I was wondering if anyone has ever tried drying coco coir in the tumble dryer or in a bucket with shoe dryers? I have tried to let it air dry and bake, but it's still moist. How long will it take before mould will develop if it doesn't dry in a few days?
Thanks for your help

 

[Konstantin]

Hi
put it i oven .I did mine on 180 -200 °C no fan.And stir it every 10 min or so.I also used foil tray
Regards Konstantin

 

[Enn49]

Don't try to use anything that blows air as it will just blow the substrate everywhere. The best way to dry it is in the oven on very low and giving it a stir round.

 

[Oursapoil]

I can confirm the oven works great, except if you have a wife that catches you and tries to murder you

 

[Heidicat]

I can confirm the oven works great, except if you have a wife that catches you and tries to murder you

Good thing that I am the wife, then.

 

[Heidicat]

But I was thinking if I tied it up in a pillow case, perhaps it may not blow around everywhere
Nah, I'll try baking it in the oven again just to be on the safe side. Thanks for replying so fast guys

 

[octanejunkie]

But I was thinking if I tied it up in a pillow case, perhaps it may not blow around everywhere
Nah, I'll try baking it in the oven again just to be on the safe side. Thanks for replying so fast guys

No dryer
Oven or air dry
I've never used an oven, personally

 

[Konstantin]

Hi, I appologize if I've posted this in the wrong thread or if this have been a topic before (I'm new here and to the hobby).
However; I was wondering if anyone has ever tried drying coco coir in the tumble dryer or in a bucket with shoe dryers? I have tried to let it air dry and bake, but it's still moist. How long will it take before mould will develop if it doesn't dry in a few days?
Thanks for your help

Do not stress about mold issues.
If mould will develop or not depends on how your enclosure is ventilated.
Many of us keep moisture dependent species of tarantula on moist substrate without issues or put moist but not swampy substrate and let is dry naturally in the enclosure.
What species is your spider(s) also post few pics of your enclosure(s)?
Regards Konstantin

 

[Frogdaddy]

Disposable foil pan from the dollar store, a sunny 70 degree day, stir every 1/2 hour and voila. Dry coco fiber the easy way.

 

[Aracnoenthusiast]

I buy it loose in a bag already. No messing with hydrating bricks, and no drying.

 

[m0lsx]

When I was at school. We had a large garden & within it, a large commercial size greenhouse. Each year myself & a couple of friends, would dig out the soil out, in the green house, down to a depth of about 2 feet. Sterilise the soil & mix it with some decent well made compost before returning it.

Steralising soil involves cooking it. Our soil steriliser, took a barrow full of soil at a time & heated it, to a reasonable temperature. What temperature, I do not know, but it produced lots of thick white & putrid steam & the soil was too hot to handle once cooked.

If cooking is the way it is done by the barrow full, then that is the way I would do it for a few inches of substrate in my enclosure. But personally I now have the luxury, of being able to dehydrate coir blocks & allowing what I need to dry out naturally before use. It only takes a few days & I now always keep some very dry & some slightly moist substrate ready to use. It takes up very little space & means I always have the correct substrate available. I keep the dry substrate in an unused enclosure & it becomes dust dry & the moist is kept in a plastic bag & I add more moisture if needed.

Moist substrate dries out quickly & do not feel that all of your substrate, even for a desert species needs to be very dry. Even if only the top half inch is dry, The tank may be a little humid for a few days, but all of it, will dry out over a week or two. Even deserts get some rain, sometimes. So a little moisture, is not fatal to even desert species.

 

[m0lsx]

Just to add, I keep springtails in my stirmi's & blondi's enclosures & I need to top those enclosures up with, dry leaves, flaked fish food, dried rice & dried yeast, to maintain the bacterial growth needed for a healthy clean up crew.

In other words. To have a healthy clean up crew in moist tanks. I deliberately cause mold to grow. So don't think unwanted mold is more of an issue, than it is, in a well ventilated tank, not even with moist substrate. As I do not need to grow my own mold for no reason.

 

[octanejunkie]

I took my reply and made a thread about it here

What's your "best" substrate for tarantula keeping?

For what it's worth, here is what I do I dehydrate coco coir bricks, I purchase the two following one(s) from Amazon Zoo Med Eco Earth Loose Coconut Fiber Substrate, 8 Quarts - CHEAPER than same brand bricks by weight https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00167VVP4/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20 Zilla Reptile...

www.tarantulaforum.com

 

[m0lsx]

Disposable foil pan from the dollar store, a sunny 70 degree day, stir every 1/2 hour and voila. Dry coco fiber the easy way.

I often take my radio equipment & help the Scouts take part in a international event called Jamboree On The Air, (JOTA.) Normally it is arranged for other things to happen over the weekend too. Being a radio amateur, I can offer Electronics badge training as well as Communicator badge training & sometimes we are treated to lovely food over the weekend as well. As sometimes there is Catering, or Cooking Badge work happening too.

But one year over JOTA weekend. They cooked a meal, using nothing more than a cooking foil lined cardboard box. JOTA happens in October, so the sun is not that strong, but even so, with the right method, especially in a south facing position, it should be possible to dry the substrate out naturally on a dry day, even in England.

 

[benson1990]

I used a reptile heat lamp to dry mine, it works but it's time consuming, thats why I always try and buy the loose bad of eco earth for dry species, it may be a bit more expensive but its just so handy, in my experience blocks of coir and eco earth take an age to get dry.